"Justin" Case You Missed It - Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Justin Maffei | National Hockey League

Mar 6, 02:17 AM | Hype this story!

GAME OF THE NIGHT
Chicago Blackhawks vs. Anaheim Ducks

In his first NHL start, Corey Crawford stopped 19 shots for his first NHL shutout and his first NHL victory.

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NHL Games played on Wednesday, March 5, 2008

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Carolina Hurricanes 6 – Atlanta Thrashers 3
Eric Staal led the Hurricanes to the victory in this one with a three point night (2 G, 1 A). Neither power play seemed to be in sync as the Hurricanes went 1-8 and the Thrashers went 0-3. The only power play goal was scored by Joe Corvo. Kovalchuck added a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, but the Hurricanes were too much for them.

Three Stars
1 Staal, CAR (2 G, 1 A, 3 P)
2 Walker, CAR (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)
3 Cole, CAR (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 13,032

NHL.com Recap
Raleigh News and Observer
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Washington Capitals 3 – Buffalo Sabres 1
Huet sat out the game with back spasms and Kolzig replaced him in goal. Ovechkin had two goals, his 53 and 54 of the season, tops in the league, to lead the Caps to the W. Ovechkin now leads Malkin in the scoring race by three points even though he has played one fewer game than the Penguin playmaker. However, the Capitals were not able to make up any ground on Carolina as they won tonight as well. Buffalo had the chance to leap frog the Flyers for the final playoff spot, but came up short.

Three Stars
1 Ovechkin, WSH (2 G, 0 A, 2 P)
2 Backstrom, WSH (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)
3 Afinogenov, BUF (0 G, 0 A, 0 P)

Attendance: 18,690

NHL.com Recap
Washington Post
The Buffalo News
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St. Louis Blues 1 – Detroit Red Wings 4
This was a breath of fresh air for Detroit. They had been struggling, winning only 1 of their previous 10 games before winning their last two. They still are firmly entrenched as number one in the Western Conference, but this is a time when you want to be playing your best hockey. Datsyuk led the Wings to the victory with two goals, icing the game with an empty netter.

Three Stars
1 Franzen, DET (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
2 E. Johnson, STL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
3 Rafalski, DET (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)

Attendance: 18,064

NHL.com Recap
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Detroit News
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Anaheim Ducks 0 – Chicago Blackhawks 3
Corey Crawford, the Blackhawks rookie goaltender, stopped 19 shots and posted a shutout to claim his first NHL win in his first NHL start. It took a miraculous performance from the Chicago goaltender to cool down this Ducks team. They had their six game win streak halted with this loss. Anaheim showed their frustration with 18 penalties (11 in the first period) for 69 minutes. They received two ten minute misconducts (Bertuzzi and Parros) and a game misconduct (O’Donnell).

Three Stars
1 Crawford, CHI (19 saves)
2 Byfuglien, CHI (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)
3 Barker, CHI (1 G, 1 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 16,666

NHL.com Recap
Los Angeles Times
Chicago Sun-Times
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Phoenix Coyotes 2 – Dallas Stars 1
Bryzgalov has been stellar in his past few outings. He turned away 20 of 21 shots in the win. The Coyotes now are only three points behind the Avalanche and the Predators who sit at 7th and 8th respectively in the Western Conference.

Three Stars
1 Bryzgalov, PHX (20 saves)
2 Doan, PHX (1 G, 0 A, 1 P)
3 Winchester, DAL (1 G, 0 A, 1 P) *first goal of the season

Attendance: 17,942

NHL.com Recap
Arizona Republic
Dallas Morning News
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Ottawa Senators 2 – San Jose Sharks 3 OT
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Without Alfredsson in this one, the Sens had a little trouble scoring. Half of the game had been played before the first goal was scored in this one. It came off of a redirection of Dany Heatley’s shot by Jason Spezza with 8:47 left in the second period. The Sharks answered back with a power play goal scored by Patrick Marleau in the first minute of the third period. Each team scored again in the third, forcing the game into overtime. Marleau scored the game winner in overtime, his second of the game.

Three Stars
1 Marleau, SJ (2 G, 0 A, 2 P)
2 Cheechoo, SJ (1 G, 0 A, 1 P) *game-tying goal
3 Spezza, OTT (2 G, 0 A, 2 P)

Attendance: 17,496

NHL.com Recap
Ottawa Sun
San Francisco Gate
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Odds & Ends

The Florida Panthers have suspended Chad Kilger for not reporting to the team following his trade from Toronto

Florida Panthers trainer, Dave Zenobi will be honored for his work on Richard Zednik. He will receive the ADT Good Sport Award.

Hockey at Wrigley? The Sequel to the Winter Classic.

A power play goal at even strength.